"Must admit I am a little surprised that Murray is playing Barcelona this week, with two mandatory masters still to come, and then the FO Wimbledon and the Olympics plu the fact he just played Monte Carlo, he is setting himself up for a punishing schedule, will it prove to much? "

Well you can argue Andy has only played one match worthy of the name on clay so far this year. He needs more matches so I'm really pleased he's playing this week.

"Must admit I am a little surprised that Murray is playing Barcelona this week, with two mandatory masters still to come, and then the FO Wimbledon and the Olympics plu the fact he just played Monte Carlo, he is setting himself up for a punishing schedule, will it prove to much? "

Well you can argue Andy has only played one match worthy of the name on clay so far this year. He needs more matches so I'm really pleased he's playing this week.

BigNose - You can save yourself a lot of trouble, and make things clearer for other people, if you use the "Quote" box at the top RH corner of the post to which you're referring. All you need to do is left-click on it and then start typing your response where the cursor is after [/quote]. You can also edit or delete your posts by clicking on these boxes too.

Yes managing the schedule for this year is a tough one to get right. Rafa's schedule looks loaded as he's likely to reach all the clay finals - I wouldn't be surprised if he missed Madrid as he hates the altitude and blue clay. I can see both sides of the argument for Andy but think that he will benefit from matches on clay. I agree that staying fresh for the summer is very important - for both Andy and Federer this is likely to be where most of their success will come from.

Glad he's not on Berd's side of the draw this time! Almagro will be tough in the QF.

Rafa's schedule is bound to be loaded with clay events. His most success is on clay (at least 70%) and he gets most of his confidence and strength from it. Andy can't have the same attitude and expect to win every match he plays as his main strength is somewhere else but as you said, he can definitely benefit a lot from playing some matches on clay.

Rafa's schedule is bound to be loaded with clay events. His most success is on clay (at least 70%) and he gets most of his confidence and strength from it. Andy can't have the same attitude and expect to win every match he plays as his main strength is somewhere else but as you said, he can definitely benefit a lot from playing some matches on clay.

Yes it's definitely the right approach for Rafa - he's not won a hard court title since 2010 and hasn't won a hard court Masters since 2009 so most of his points come from this part of the year. It does tend to leave his energy sapped for the latter part of the year, but it's worth it in terms of his ranking.

Yes it's definitely the right approach for Rafa - he's not won a hard court title since 2010 and hasn't won a hard court Masters since 2009 so most of his points come from this part of the year. It does tend to leave his energy sapped for the latter part of the year, but it's worth it in terms of his ranking.

Is it, though?

Look at this way: Does he play a lot of clay tournaments because he's less successful on the hard.

Or is he less successful on the hard because he plays a lot of clay tournaments (and burns himself out)?

Maybe if he sat out MC (pfft like he will with his record there) or Madrid he's have a big more energy in the second half of the season and will have some more success there.

I don't think he really cares about the Masters though, bar one or two. It's only the clay he cares about, be it for his reputation or probably because it's his favourite surface. I don't know. But certainly he will have to give his schedule real thought in the future if Djokovic ever knocks him off his Roland Garros perch.

ANDY MURRAY: Yeah, there are a lot of things I would have liked to have done better. It takes a lot of time for me to do it on this surface. It doesn't come straightaway. It takes time for me to understand the way I'm needing to play. At some points today in the match I did well; some points I didn't do so well. It's going to take me a few weeks. Today is a good match to learn from because I was playing a top player who played very, very well.It was a long match. Physically, you know, good for me I think, as well. 2 hours and 40 minutes. I did a lot of the running. It was good for me physically. Just playing matches is what I need right now.

A very fair assessment from Andy and pretty much what Paul Newman said in Indie ie that this was a good workout for Andy on clay. Also pointed out that whereas TB had played 11 sets on clay in previous fortnight Andy had played fewer than 3 full ones. So I'm with those who think it's good that he's playing Barca next week and I think it's good he's playing dubs as well as singles. He needs at v least to protect the ranking points he picked up at RG last year and if possible go further. So makes sense to get as much practice as possible. And looks like a good draw here.Re tv coverage yes Sky just starts on thursday as this isn't a masters event.

Look at this way: Does he play a lot of clay tournaments because he's less successful on the hard.

Or is he less successful on the hard because he plays a lot of clay tournaments (and burns himself out)?

Maybe if he sat out MC (pfft like he will with his record there) or Madrid he's have a big more energy in the second half of the season and will have some more success there.

I don't think he really cares about the Masters though, bar one or two. It's only the clay he cares about, be it for his reputation or probably because it's his favourite surface. I don't know. But certainly he will have to give his schedule real thought in the future if Djokovic ever knocks him off his Roland Garros perch.

I think the main reason he's less successful on hard is just that his game is more well-suited to clay - his topspin forehand is perfect for this surface and few players have the answer to it. He's improved on hard a lot over the last few years but still needs to be playing near his very best level to win big titles and more players can hit through him on hardcourts. Clay's also a much kinder surface for his knees.

If he played less clay tennis then I think he'd definitely be less burned-out by the end of the year and would do better in the hardcourt Masters in October than he currently does. But it could be a risk for his ranking and if I were him, I'd keep his schedule knowing that he's practically guaranteed to get at least finalist ranking points in the clay events he enters.

Looking forward to Barcelona, Andy should have a good chance of making at least the semi-finals and maybe even the final. Not sure I'm ready for another Berdych match just yet though - Andy's been drawn against him so many times recently (they'd even have met in Miami if Berdych hadn't lost early). I'd like an Andy-Ferrer meeting this time.

Tennis coverage is pretty pathetic. I'm not sure how much is down to lack of recording (e.g. Miami first five days) or just the sports channels not bothering to invest in covering tennis but it really is pathetic that they only cover the Slams, some of the Masters, and the occasional last couple of days of 500's if we're lucky.

For the BBC tennis only exists for one month in a year.

And yet they splash out millions on covering F1 (although I do love F1, I'd much rather the money be spent on the tennis and other less popular sports. Sky are doing a pretty great job with the F1 this year...)